Almost, but Not Quite

I had a great sewing day working on the Gentleman's Fancy blocks yesterday.  In between, I helped the DH with the installation of his Valentine's gift.

This becomes that - not his actual closet but you get the idea.  This is the ShelfTrack system by ClosetMaid.  This is the first time the DH has installed a system like this but I have used it twice before. I love the flexibility of this system- it has held the huge fabric totes in the garage for over a decade.

 Our challenge was getting the spacing right to accommodate his tall size shirts and maximizing the storage space / configuration of shelves and clothes rods.

Meanwhile, in the studio, a lot of sewing was going on!  I had five blocks to make with 49 pieces per block.  Can I just say I love foundation paper piecing?!  Rather than photocopying the block designs, I draw each block separately on graph paper to help insure accuracy.

Note - ALWAYS use good quality name brand graph paper!! I grabbed a lesser quality graph paper pad once, only to discover it was NOT 4 squares to an inch and almost lost my mind trying to draft on it. It was five squares to an inch - kind of, sort of, not really - ARGH!  I admit it - I am a bit of a supply snob when it comes to graph paper, pencils, pens, markers and the like.  But these are tools I will not compromise on quality.

A few of my favorite things...

Mead Cambridge Graph Paper

(Sanford Newell Rubbermaid) Papermate Mirado Black Warrior Pencils

Uni-ball Jetstream Pens

Anyway, back to quilt blocks. Here is what I started with this morning - block parts.

And this is where I ended up.

Almost, but not quite, a sewn together row.  I ran out of the blue background floral fabric (I only had a fat quarter) before I was able to finish the outer sections of the center block.  I will HAVE to go to the quilt shop tomorrow - oh, darn. This is the only fabric purchase allowed by the Shop the Stash rule. Fabric required for challenges is allowed. Running amok in a quilt shop is not.

I am happy with the block variation I chose to make and with the color progression. Just need to finish the center block to have a complete picture. I also like the way the two rows play together, even though there will be sashing between them.  This quilt may end up with a pieced sashing to join the block designs visually - have to wait and see on that.